I won’t decide what the subtitle of this collection post will be until I finish it, but the photo above has me tempted to use “Going Crazy Edition.” [Update: finished, and yes, that seems like the appropriate heading]
Congresswoman Nancy Mace, Republican, conservative, a military veteran and one of the “hot,” frequently embarrassing GOP women in Congress, just revealed her full arm tattoo “sleeves.” I have an associate, also fully sleeved, who is a veteran, a Camp Lejeune victim, suffers from Complex PTSD, and is a survivor of a chaotic upbringing, the death of a child, and other personal tragedies. He has explained to me that excessive, visible tattoos like Mace’s (and his) are often, even usually, a form of self-harm to cope with serious emotional damage.
Mace is notable for various rogue positions as well as conduct that Ethics Alarms had criticized as being inappropriate for members of Congress, most recently here. Last year, Mace delivered a 50 minute diatribe accusing her ex-fiancé and three other men of rape, sex trafficking and other sex crimes against her and other female victims, and accused South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson of failing to prosecute the men after, she said, she presented his office with evidence. Mace is not stable (she is a lame duck, having failed to run in the primary for her seat to run for the Republican governor nomination, failing badly), and is one more example of how the parties and voters need to stop letting such troubled people reach national leadership position. To be fair, I have determined that being a little (or a lot) nuts is a common trait among our elected Presidents, as is having a traumatic life. Those driven with a passion to lead are by definition abnormal. A congresswoman who feels compelled to say “Look at me! I’m a mess!” by getting “sleeves,” however, should start ethics alarms ringing.
Meanwhile…
Ethics Alarms 
(4) When my state was deciding on marijuana legalization, I heard public schoolteachers openly discussing getting a marijuana card, growing some, and selling it to their students for extra money. Yeah, there are a lot of teachers with ‘medical’ marijuana cards stoned at work today.
(5) And this is why I videoed a 5-part ‘Algebra Essentials’ series for my college freshman. They may have placed into Calculus I by ACT score (27+ math), but that doesn’t mean that they understand Algebra I.
(6)…and when CVS and Walgreens close in those neighborhoods, this is the first elected official who will cry ‘racism’.
(6) And she’s factually wrong as well. Those items are being stolen by organized groups for immediate resale.
Sometimes on the same street as the store from which they stole. If you steal a $3 tube of toothpaste and sell it for $1.50 or $2.00, you’ve made a profit.
#5 Some years ago I tutored all levels of math that Madison College taught. Nine times out of ten when a student came in for Calculus or Physics tutoring I had to send them to my Algebra tutoring class because that was where they were lacking skills. A week or so of intense Algebra tutoring to brush up on their skills and they were doing well in their Calculus or Physics class. My Algebra tutoring group was the largest group I had, Geometry was the second largest.
That’s because they are supposed to learn that in high school (or middle school) and the public schoolteachers aren’t.
My tutoring experience was mostly back in the 1990’s.
If I remember correctly; “most” of the people that were actually enrolled in Calculus just needed a rapid core refresher because they had been away from it for a time. The ones that needed most of the attention were the students taking Intermediate and College Algebra because they either hadn’t take it, or had done really bad in High School. One thing that helped a couple of the Calculus students reinforce their Algebra skills was, I had them help some of the less skilled students, this really helped them get their heads in the right gear.
#6 Holy shit, that Sociommunist actually said that crap aloud, in front of microphones? What a fucking moron.
#4 “Superintendent Clint Mitchell urged the board to vote no because it would put the district at a competitive disadvantage with neighboring counties; no one would want to work there if testing was required.”
That’s damn near an open acknowledgement that a large portion of their teachers have a drug abuse problem and the administration is going to do whatever they can to enable their teachers to continue their drug abuse.
Our 21st century absurdities continue to roll through our society. It’s amazing how many of negatively affect K-12 students.
#1 As far as I’m concerned, Ibram X. Kendi is an anti-white racist, yes he’s a racist.
#2 I’ve worked in theatrical shows that included children, my daughter was in a few of them. While participating in shows that had children I always let the director know up front that I would be at all rehearsals and I would stand up for all the children and not allow any of them to be abused in any way. Sometimes all it took was a really stern look from me to ring the Directors’ or a staff members bell and stop what I considered to be abusive behavior with children, and get them back on track. There were times that it got a bit contentious, but the behavior was always corrected before rehearsal could continue.
I remember one time the Director was using the “God Mic” at a tech rehearsal run-thru, literally screamed at Peter Pan (I’ll never forget it), I quote “YOU’RE NOT DOING WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO, I SHOULD HAVE CAST SOMEONE ELSE!” in a very abusive tone. Everyone was shocked at the abusive tone, the Stage Manager didn’t say a freaking word and should have, and Peter Pan immediately started crying. I was pissed! I was at every rehearsal and immediately walked down centerstage, looked right at the Director in the house and whipped out my Army Drill Sergeant voice and yelled something like “I’VE BEEN AT ABSOLUTELY EVERY REHEARSAL AND YOU HAVEN’T ONCE TOLD PETER PAN WHAT YOU WANT HIM TO DO AT THIS POINT IN THE SCRIPT”. How dare I do such a thing to the Director! This completely stopped the tech run-through, I asked the Stage Director to bring their blocking notes to me, and between the two of us we confirmed that there was no blocking instruction given to Peter Pan at this point in the script. I informed the Director that Peter Pan was owed a formal apology over the “God Mic” before we would continue with our run-thru after a short break for Peter Pan to regain his composure. The director eventually complied, apologized appropriately, didn’t give any additional instructions to Peter Pan, and we were able to continue our run thru after a short break. There were more problems with this Director’s memory during other rehearsals, they were non-confrontational and not abusive, the Stage Manager had her hands full with the Director’s memory, and it turned out that this particular director was retired from her Company Artistic Director position after the show completed its run.
If influential adults stand up for the children on set and not allow narcissistic arrogant directors and staff to abuse the children, things can really go well and everyone can actually have a good time.
“If influential adults stand up for the children on set and not allow narcissistic arrogant directors and staff to abuse the children, things can really go well and everyone can actually have a good time.”
Agreed. An on-set teacher of child actors once told the story of how actor John Astin implored her to allow a child actor to stay longer than needed to finish a scene and was very unhappy when she stuck to her guns. Later, when his own children were acting, guess who he wanted as the on-set teacher?
I am reminded of the former Ellen Page who recounted how, before she even believed she was gay, X-Men: The Last Stand director Brett Ratner outed her in front of the rest of the cast. I have long wondered just who was standing there among the cast. Were they just newbies who depended on this gig to make it big and felt intimidated enough not to stand up for her? Were Sir Patrick Stewart or Sir Ian McKellen there? If so, did neither of them have enough clout to push back on Ratner? Hugh Jackman?
6) Galagher: A simplistic and naive misrepresentation of one of the destructive habits common among those coddled by the democrats, DSA, etc. Their narrow childish vision leaves them surprised, and everyone else increasingly diminished, by the ultimate degradation of society.
“Paul and I talked about holding a national convention to call attention to the issue of the exploitation of child performers which the news media continues to shrug off. It’s an ethics issue, and I still think such a convention is a good idea.”
I’ve attended fan conventions for years, though I’ve got no experience organizing or running one.
What format would this convention take? A large gathering? Tickets sold? Former child actors making appearances? Could it be expanded to include panels about kids on travel sports teams or other types of expensive activities that take a lot of time away from being a child? (A teenage girl I know in travel choir doesn’t compete until midnight some nights and doesn’t get home until 2 or 3 AM on weekends, leaving her exhausted). Could it include Guinness World Record aspirants, Olympics-bound athletes, kids whose parents are pushing them to become pro-golfers, putting them in beauty pageants or even those awful influencer parents who stream their kids’ growing up years for likes? There could be panels on kids manipulated to lie about parental abuse or neglect (or even to commit crimes) to illustrate how they don’t always make informed choices or are even sometimes coerced into certain behavior or activities.
To me, the child actor experience is just a different side of the parental manipulation coin. It’s a form of Munchhausen by Proxy, even if the child isn’t being medicated or taken to unnecessary doctor appointments.
These are just some thoughts off the top of my head.
Yes, large gathering, several days presentations of papers and research, break-out sessions, speeches and presentations by former child stars like Melissa Gilbert, Cory Feldman, Sarah Polley, the Fanning sisters, Danny Bonaduce… parents of child actors, like Andie McDowell. Special sessions on the PBS Jon and Kate plus 8, child athletes, infants in shows and ads, the possible use of AI to address these problems, child predators in Hollywood, child performers in other cultures. Also lawyers on the various cases and controversies, legislators and activist on proposed laws. Panel discussions, debates, networking events. A special award for Paul. In the evenings, showings of great child acting performances—Shirley Temple, Mickey Rooney, Freddie Bartholomew.
I know it would be great, well publicized, highlight the issue, and well-attended. It’s all in my head. Now all I need is a staff, money, and an organization…..
I think it’s a fantastic idea. Corey Feldman was at the convention I attended this weekend, too. That guy is not well.
I wonder if Sean Astin, current President of SAG-AFTRA and former child star (who was also at the convention), might be interested in something like this?
I would think so. His mother, Patty Duke, was frequently a guest in round table features on TV about the child star issue Brooke Shields, like Patty, had an exploitive stage mother but survived her. If it were up to me, I’d dedicate the conference to June Havoc, Gypsy Rose Lee’s sister (“Baby June”) who was the ultimate survivor.